Morning Service

During weekday morning Service, we chant portions of the Lotus Sutra including Chapter 2, Chapter 12, Chapter 16, Chapter 21, Chapter 25 and the selection for the day. We also chant the Odaimoku (Namu Myoho Renge Kyo). This is a version of the normal daily service practiced by Nichiren Shu practitioners at home. The chapters from the Lotus Sutra are read in the traditional way (Chinese Characters with Japanese pronunciation) called Shindoku. Shindoku is a form of faith reading and is a meditation in itself. It is not necessary to understand academically while chanting in Shindoku as it is a form of meditation practice. Unlike our weekend Morning Service which lasts about 40 min. - 1 hour our weekday morning service is longer. More like an hour to an hour and a half.

We're about:

We are the Nichiren Shu Buddhist Sangha of Greater New England, a temple located in Haverhill, MA. Nichiren Shu Buddhism came to the U.S. with Japanese immigrants over 100 years ago and is now very accessible here in New England with services conducted in English.

We offer a form of Buddhist practice based on the Lotus Sutra and the teachings of the 12th century monk Nichiren Shonin. While there are nearly 40 Nichiren based schools, we are the orthodox school practicing Mahayana Buddhism based on the Lotus Sutra. We have rich traditions and rituals and offer services in both shindoku (faith language) as well as English.

We also offer meditation, study of the Lotus Sutra, study of Nichiren Shonin's writings and sutra chanting practices. We are known as the noisy Buddhists because of our intense, percussive manner of chanting. All are welcome, no experience necessary--come join our weekly services. We use several ways to get the word out for our Sangha. Because of this, the "Who's coming?" RSVP may not reflect the actual number of people attending. If you are new to Buddhism, you can watch a typical service on our Youtube page. We also suggest you attend our monthly Beginners' Workshop to learn more about the practice of Buddhism and to answer any questions you have about various forms of Buddhism.

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